The Extent OF PC Anti Virus Scanscan

October 19, 2008

Using XP/PRO ,Zone Alm-Adaware+ AVG anti virus installed. I've

completed a Complete Scan of my PC . Took over 1 hour.To reduce this in

future, What are the Essential Areas to Scan please.I'll do a Complete

scan Again in the future (IE 6 Months time.) jim

October 19, 2008

Re: The Extent OF PC Anti Virus Scanscan

"@optusnet.com.au ." <""jmkell\"@optusnet.com.au ."> wrote in message

news:eaR6NzYMJHA.4724@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> Using XP/PRO ,Zone Alm-Adaware+ AVG anti virus installed. I've

> completed a Complete Scan of my PC . Took over 1 hour.To reduce this in

> future, What are the Essential Areas to Scan please.I'll do a Complete

> scan Again in the future (IE 6 Months time.) jim

You'll find that you can dramatically reduce scan times by clearing the

Temporary Internet Files and Temporary Files (temp) folders before the scan,

and emptying the recycle bin.

It's very easy to get thousands and thousands of small files in the TIF

folders, and regardless of size, each one has to be opened, examined, and

closed to be scanned. And these are probably the most critical areas to

scan; they are a primary route for malware infections. You should *not*

exclude these folders.

The built-in Disk Cleanup tools are a good place to start, but the free

utility "ccleaner" (http://www.ccleaner.com) can be much more effective. All of

these have to be run for each user account that's been used.

HTH

-pk

October 19, 2008

Re: The Extent OF PC Anti Virus Scanscan

Patrick Keenan wrote:

> "@optusnet.com.au ." <""jmkell\"@optusnet.com.au ."> wrote in message

> news:eaR6NzYMJHA.4724@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>

>> Using XP/PRO ,Zone Alm-Adaware+ AVG anti virus installed. I've

>>completed a Complete Scan of my PC . Took over 1 hour.To reduce this in

>>future, What are the Essential Areas to Scan please.I'll do a Complete

>>scan Again in the future (IE 6 Months time.) jim

>

> You'll find that you can dramatically reduce scan times by clearing the

> Temporary Internet Files and Temporary Files (temp) folders before the scan,

> and emptying the recycle bin.

>

> It's very easy to get thousands and thousands of small files in the TIF

> folders, and regardless of size, each one has to be opened, examined, and

> closed to be scanned. And these are probably the most critical areas to

> scan; they are a primary route for malware infections. You should *not*

> exclude these folders.

>

> The built-in Disk Cleanup tools are a good place to start, but the free

> utility "ccleaner" (http://www.ccleaner.com) can be much more effective. All of

> these have to be run for each user account that's been used.

>

> HTH

> -pk

>

> Thanks Heaps for your Detailed & Informative reply Patrick.Saved. What

doe's 'TIF' Stand for please; + Where to locate same {ie if its not too

complicated to explain.Regards& Thanks again. jim

October 19, 2008

Re: The Extent OF PC Anti Virus Scanscan

@optusnet.com.au . > wrote:

> Patrick Keenan wrote:

>

>> "@optusnet.com.au ." <""jmkell\"@optusnet.com.au ."> wrote in message

>> news:eaR6NzYMJHA.4724@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>>

>>> Using XP/PRO ,Zone Alm-Adaware+ AVG anti virus installed. I've

>>> completed a Complete Scan of my PC . Took over 1 hour.To reduce this in

>>> future, What are the Essential Areas to Scan please.I'll do a Complete

>>> scan Again in the future (IE 6 Months time.) jim

>>

>> You'll find that you can dramatically reduce scan times by clearing

>> the Temporary Internet Files and Temporary Files (temp) folders before

>> the scan, and emptying the recycle bin.

>>

>> It's very easy to get thousands and thousands of small files in the

>> TIF folders, and regardless of size, each one has to be opened,

>> examined, and closed to be scanned. And these are probably the

>> most critical areas to scan; they are a primary route for malware

>> infections. You should *not* exclude these folders.

>>

>> The built-in Disk Cleanup tools are a good place to start, but the

>> free utility "ccleaner" (http://www.ccleaner.com) can be much more

>> effective. All of these have to be run for each user account that's

>> been used.

>>

>> HTH

>> -pk

>>

>> Thanks Heaps for your Detailed & Informative reply Patrick.Saved. What

>

> doe's 'TIF' Stand for please; + Where to locate same {ie if its not too

> complicated to explain.Regards& Thanks again. jim

Patrick; Would where the Tick is Cover those TIF files you referred

to. Regards. jim

October 19, 2008

Re: The Extent OF PC Anti Virus Scanscan

"@optusnet.com.au ." <""jmkell\"@optusnet.com.au ."> wrote in message

news:u%232wyWaMJHA.4724@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> Patrick Keenan wrote:

>

>> "@optusnet.com.au ." <""jmkell\"@optusnet.com.au ."> wrote in message

>> news:eaR6NzYMJHA.4724@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>>

>>> Using XP/PRO ,Zone Alm-Adaware+ AVG anti virus installed. I've

>>>completed a Complete Scan of my PC . Took over 1 hour.To reduce this in

>>>future, What are the Essential Areas to Scan please.I'll do a Complete

>>>scan Again in the future (IE 6 Months time.) jim

>>

>> You'll find that you can dramatically reduce scan times by clearing the

>> Temporary Internet Files and Temporary Files (temp) folders before the

>> scan, and emptying the recycle bin.

>>

>> It's very easy to get thousands and thousands of small files in the TIF

>> folders, and regardless of size, each one has to be opened, examined,

>> and closed to be scanned. And these are probably the most critical

>> areas to scan; they are a primary route for malware infections. You

>> should *not* exclude these folders.

>>

>> The built-in Disk Cleanup tools are a good place to start, but the free

>> utility "ccleaner" (http://www.ccleaner.com) can be much more effective. All

>> of these have to be run for each user account that's been used.

>>

>> HTH

>> -pk

>>

>> Thanks Heaps for your Detailed & Informative reply Patrick.Saved. What

> doe's 'TIF' Stand for please; + Where to locate same {ie if its not too

> complicated to explain.Regards& Thanks again. jim

It's a short form I use for Temporary Interenet Files. It's the Internet

Explorer Browser cache, under

Documents and Settings\<user name>\Local Settings\Temporary Interent Files

Every user account has its own set of these folders, and in them you will

find eventually system/hidden folders called "content.ie5" - regardless of

the IE version - and then a number of hidden folders with cryptic names.

All of them can go.

There are also sets of Temp folders:

Documents and Settings\<user name>\Local Settings\Temp

and their contents should also periodically go.

The very easiest way to clear these out is with ccleaner. Otherwise, you

have to change the Explorer view to show everything and go poring through

the account structures.

The Windows Disk Cleanup utility has an annoying habit of leaving lots of

stuff behind that you'd expect it to remove. . The first time you run

ccleaner, it's not unusual for it to find hundreds of megabytes of files;

I've seen it locate a couple of gig. Note that if you let ccleaner

remove everything, it'll also take a number of things you might have to

re-enter, such as website passwords, depending on where they were stored.

Go to http://www.ccleaner.com, look for the "other builds" download page and take

the "slim" build with no toolbar. It's under a meg. Note that if your

system has multiple user accounts, you should log into each account and run

it. You can reinstall it for each account or just add a shortcut in the

All Users Desktop folder.

With temp folders, if you've used web installers for software and cleared

the Temp folders , you can lose the ability to uninstall the software

because it used the temp folder to create the install/uninstall files. In

that case you have to download it again, rerun the install, and immediately

uninstall. I personally think this practice is improper, though it is

widespread.

HTH

-pk

October 19, 2008

Re: The Extent OF PC Anti Virus Scanscan

"@optusnet.com.au ." <""jmkell\"@optusnet.com.au ."> wrote in message

news:u5BwgaaMJHA.5780@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> @optusnet.com.au . > wrote:

>> Patrick Keenan wrote:

>>

>>> "@optusnet.com.au ." <""jmkell\"@optusnet.com.au ."> wrote in message

>>> news:eaR6NzYMJHA.4724@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>>>

>>>> Using XP/PRO ,Zone Alm-Adaware+ AVG anti virus installed. I've

>>>> completed a Complete Scan of my PC . Took over 1 hour.To reduce this

>>>> in

>>>> future, What are the Essential Areas to Scan please.I'll do a Complete

>>>> scan Again in the future (IE 6 Months time.) jim

>>>

>>> You'll find that you can dramatically reduce scan times by clearing

>>> the Temporary Internet Files and Temporary Files (temp) folders before

>>> the scan, and emptying the recycle bin.

>>>

>>> It's very easy to get thousands and thousands of small files in the

>>> TIF folders, and regardless of size, each one has to be opened,

>>> examined, and closed to be scanned. And these are probably the

>>> most critical areas to scan; they are a primary route for malware

>>> infections. You should *not* exclude these folders.

>>>

>>> The built-in Disk Cleanup tools are a good place to start, but the

>>> free utility "ccleaner" (http://www.ccleaner.com) can be much more

>>> effective. All of these have to be run for each user account that's

>>> been used.

>>>

>>> HTH

>>> -pk

>>>

>>> Thanks Heaps for your Detailed & Informative reply Patrick.Saved. What

>>

>> doe's 'TIF' Stand for please; + Where to locate same {ie if its not too

>> complicated to explain.Regards& Thanks again. jim

> Patrick; Would where the Tick is Cover those TIF files you referred

> to. Regards. jim

TIF = Temporary Internet Files

You have to change the Explorer view to show all folders, and protected

system files, first.

Then go to C:\Documents and settngs\<User name>\Local Settings\

and you will find both the Temporary Internet Files and Temp folders.

Or just use ccleaner and it's done in a few minutes with minimal effort.

HTH

-pk

October 19, 2008

Re: The Extent OF PC Anti Virus Scanscan

Patrick Keenan wrote:

> "@optusnet.com.au ." <""jmkell\"@optusnet.com.au ."> wrote in message

> news:u%232wyWaMJHA.4724@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>

>>Patrick Keenan wrote:

>>

>>>"@optusnet.com.au ." <""jmkell\"@optusnet.com.au ."> wrote in message

>>>news:eaR6NzYMJHA.4724@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>>>

>>>>Using XP/PRO ,Zone Alm-Adaware+ AVG anti virus installed. I've

>>>>completed a Complete Scan of my PC . Took over 1 hour.To reduce this in

>>>>future, What are the Essential Areas to Scan please.I'll do a Complete

>>>>scan Again in the future (IE 6 Months time.) jim

>>>

>>>You'll find that you can dramatically reduce scan times by clearing the

>>>Temporary Internet Files and Temporary Files (temp) folders before the

>>>scan, and emptying the recycle bin.

>>>

>>>It's very easy to get thousands and thousands of small files in the TIF

>>>folders, and regardless of size, each one has to be opened, examined,

>>>and closed to be scanned. And these are probably the most critical

>>>areas to scan; they are a primary route for malware infections. You

>>>should *not* exclude these folders.

>>>

>>>The built-in Disk Cleanup tools are a good place to start, but the free

>>>utility "ccleaner" (http://www.ccleaner.com) can be much more effective. All

>>>of these have to be run for each user account that's been used.

>>>

>>>HTH

>>>-pk

>>>

>>>Thanks Heaps for your Detailed & Informative reply Patrick.Saved. What

>>

>>doe's 'TIF' Stand for please; + Where to locate same {ie if its not too

>>complicated to explain.Regards& Thanks again. jim

>

> It's a short form I use for Temporary Interenet Files. It's the Internet

> Explorer Browser cache, under

> Documents and Settings\<user name>\Local Settings\Temporary Interent Files

>

> Every user account has its own set of these folders, and in them you will

> find eventually system/hidden folders called "content.ie5" - regardless of

> the IE version - and then a number of hidden folders with cryptic names.

> All of them can go.

>

> There are also sets of Temp folders:

> Documents and Settings\<user name>\Local Settings\Temp

> and their contents should also periodically go.

>

> The very easiest way to clear these out is with ccleaner. Otherwise, you

> have to change the Explorer view to show everything and go poring through

> the account structures.

>

> The Windows Disk Cleanup utility has an annoying habit of leaving lots of

> stuff behind that you'd expect it to remove. . The first time you run

> ccleaner, it's not unusual for it to find hundreds of megabytes of files;

> I've seen it locate a couple of gig. Note that if you let ccleaner

> remove everything, it'll also take a number of things you might have to

> re-enter, such as website passwords, depending on where they were stored.

>

> Go to http://www.ccleaner.com, look for the "other builds" download page and take

> the "slim" build with no toolbar. It's under a meg. Note that if your

> system has multiple user accounts, you should log into each account and run

> it. You can reinstall it for each account or just add a shortcut in the

> All Users Desktop folder.

>

> With temp folders, if you've used web installers for software and cleared

> the Temp folders , you can lose the ability to uninstall the software

> because it used the temp folder to create the install/uninstall files. In

> that case you have to download it again, rerun the install, and immediately

> uninstall. I personally think this practice is improper, though it is

> widespread.

>

> HTH

> -pk

>

> '

Much Appreciated Patrick. Have installed & Run cc cleaner

Have a Nice evening.Regards. jim

October 20, 2008

Re: The Extent OF PC Anti Virus Scanscan

Does Firefox also store its temporary file in the Temporary Internet Files folder? I have a feeling

that it doesn't, but I may be wrong.

Jon

"Patrick Keenan" <test@dev.null> wrote in message news:O2EL1JbMJHA.740@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...